


airplane spoons

by sapphirestark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Irondad, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, another load of wholesomeness coming your way here, no infinity war in sight and everyone's happy, peter babysits tony & pepper's son for the first time and is being adorable, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 01:46:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15328980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphirestark/pseuds/sapphirestark
Summary: “Okay, now, be a good kid and eat another spoonful of mash, okay? For me?” Tony crouched down to be face to face with his son in the highchair, balancing some mash on a ridiculously tiny spoon.“You’re doing great, Mr Stark”, Peter commented dryly from the other side of the kitchen table. Tony shot him a halfhearted glare.“Wait until you have kids, underoos. Then you’ll grow to learn the pains of pretending that spoons are airplanes just to keep a tiny human alive.” He turned back to his kid and sighed. “I’m so glad you were already capable of holding cutlery when we met.”





	airplane spoons

**Author's Note:**

> based on a tumblr prompt: "Imagine tony and pepper having a kid and peter having to babysit them." This was a drabble on tumblr first but it turned out so long that I decided to make it an actual oneshot. I hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> (Their son remains nameless because I'm Not Good with names but it shouldn't be an issue.)

“Okay, now, be a good kid and eat another spoonful of mash, okay? For me?” Tony crouched down to be face to face with his son in the highchair, balancing some mash on a ridiculously tiny spoon. 

“You’re doing great, Mr Stark”, Peter commented dryly from the other side of the kitchen table. Tony shot him a halfhearted glare. 

“Wait until you have kids, underoos. Then you’ll grow to learn the pains of pretending that spoons are airplanes just to keep a tiny human alive.” He turned back to his kid and sighed. “I’m so glad you were already capable of holding cutlery when we met.” 

Peter grinned. “I’m just amazing like that, Mr Stark.” 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t let it get to your head. By the way, what will it take for you to finally call me Tony? Do I have to feed you mash too?” He accusingly pointed the next spoonful of mash in Peter’s direction, who hurriedly busied himself with eating his own plate of potatoes and steak (and cutting it up himself, thank you very much). 

“No, no, Mr St - Tony”, he corrected himself. He watched as the next airplane spoon drew patterns through the air, finally landing at the kid’s mouth, only to promptly be spat out again. The baby smiled brightly at his dad who seemed to give up. “I can’t blame him, I wouldn’t like mash either. Pepper can have a try in a bit before we have to get ready.” 

“R- ’scuse me”, Peter hastily swallowed his bite of steak, “Ready for what?” 

Tony wiped the little highchair desk clean while the baby played with his bib. “We’re invited to a dinner today. Haven’t been out in ages and Pepper really deserves some time off, so we’re gonna have a nice meal with some of her friends from college.” 

Peter nodded. Pepper was an amazing mum, a superhero in her own way in that regard, but some socialising with old friends seemed like a good idea after only really being in touch with the Avengers at the compound for so many months. 

“So is Bruce going to come over?” 

Tony looked at him funnily. “Why should he?”

Peter frowned. “Well, you can’t exactly leave your child unsupervised the whole night.” Said child was now being picked up by his dad and bounced on his lap, which he seemed to enjoy greatly, judging by the little sounds of delight filling the kitchen. 

“First of all, I doubt he’d agree to babysit, with the Hulk and all. And second, you’re here, so why should we ask someone else?” Tony put his coffee mug down and tickled his son who started giggling. 

Peter’s jaw dropped. “What? No! Mr St - Tony, I can’t babysit, I’m not responsible enough for a child - what if he cries? What if -” 

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Pete, you’ve been alone with him before so many times, and you’re more responsible than any of the Avengers, me included.”

“Still, Mr St -” - Tony shot him a glare, “ - I mean, Tony, that’s your _child_ , and I don’t know anything about babies -”

“Peter”, Tony said sternly, effectively stopping the boy’s rambling. “Relax. He loves you, and I know he’s in good hands with you because rest assured, I don’t just enlist anyone to take care of him. I know you’ll do well. If there’s a problem, ask Friday, she’ll help you out. Right, Friday?” 

“Of course, boss.” Maybe he imagined it, but Peter could swear Friday tried to sound calming. He appreciated it. 

“Now, start on your homework while I bring this little rascal to Pepper, or I’ll chase you with spoon airplanes.” Tony threatened, and Peter laughed, even if nervously. 

“Alright, um... Tony.” 

Tony smiled. 

—

“Okay, you’re leaving. Yes. Okay, everything’s great.” Peter wrung his hands as his eyes darted nervously between Tony and Pepper picking up their coats and the baby, now in the highchair again after having been fed just ten minutes ago. Pepper glanced at him over her shoulder.

“Peter, relax. You have no reason to be nervous. We trust you completely.” She gave her coat to Tony who helped her into it. 

“Um, well, that’s kinda why I’m nervous. I mean, I never -” - “Peter,” Pepper interrupted him, her voice jokingly stern. “You’ve got this. Okay?” 

Peter breathed in deeply and forced himself to get his hands into a more or less relaxed, or at least less sweaty state. “Right. Yeah. I’ve got this. I’ve totally got this.” He could swear he saw Tony fondly shaking his head at his nervousness. _Sure, now he was all confident._ Peter distinctly remembered Tony having said the exact same half-panicked self-reassurances when it had been his first time caring for his newborn son.

Pepper was currently crouched down in front of the highchair and gently stroking her son’s head, which had quite a prominent amount of curly and fluffy dark brown hair. “We’ll be back soon, sweetie. Be good for Peter, alright?” The baby didn’t seem to object, staring at his mum with wide and happy eyes, but to Peter, it also didn’t look like outright agreement, so there was that. He stared in apprehension as Pepper kissed the top of her son’s head and began to approach Peter. 

“Now you be good too, okay?” She said jokingly as she ruffled his hair. Peter rolled his eyes and gave a short laugh, but could feel himself blushing a bit. 

“Yeah, yeah, okay. I hope you have a nice dinner.” Peter smiled at the two parents. They really did deserve a night off, and Peter was determined to do what he had to do to ensure that it happened. 

“We will. Try not to burn the tower down.” Tony was already half out the door.

“No promises”, Peter said, only really half joking. Pepper quickly kissed his forehead and sent him a reassuring smile before she turned and followed Tony outside. As Friday closed the doors behind them, Peter let out a breath. 

Right. This was it. 

He turned around, his eyes zeroing in on the baby in the highchair. The kid had been fiddling with a picture book bound to his chair, but as if he had felt watched, he looked up and met eyes with his new babysitter. 

The sudden silence was deafening and even though nobody was watching, Peter felt more awkward by the second, just standing in the middle of the room. Desperate to just say anything, he said the first thing he could think of. 

“So. Hello. I’m Peter.” 

He was met with a look that he decided to interpret as friendly and inviting. Taking that as encouragement and praying that Friday wouldn’t save the footage of this, Peter continued talking. 

“Your mum and dad went out with some friends, so it’s just me and you today, buddy. I hope that’s okay. I mean, you don’t really have a choice. But I still hope it’s okay and that you like me, or tolerate me, or whatever.” Even with his spider senses, he could detect no change in the kid’s demeanour whatsoever. But hey, at least no crying. 

Peter realised he still stood frozen in his spot near the door. _Suck it up, Peter, it’s a baby, not an alligator._ He slowly began to walk towards the kitchen table. 

“Now, what do we have here? A little book?” Peter picked up the little picture book dangling from the side of the highchair. “Now that is just -” The baby made a squeal of delight and Peter almost dropped the book in surprise. 

“Ah, we’re happy today? That is good, that is absolutely great, actually.” Every sound that indicated no crying in the near future was a positive sign in Peter’s eyes. The baby started trying to grab Peter’s fingers, and Peter’s heart almost melted. He told the nervous voice in his head to shut up and bother someone else.

“Now aren’t you a cutie today, little buddy? Come on, let’s see if we can find some more books in the living room, okay?” He carefully lifted the kid out of his highchair and positioned him safely in his arms while offering him his left pinkie to hold. 

“Friday, are you running the baby-proofing protocol?” Peter asked while bouncing the baby in his arms, careful not to make him lose his grip on Peter’s little finger to which he seemed to have taken a liking. 

“I am, Peter. No loud ringtones will be played, no unannounced visitors admitted, and all cabinets near the floor are locked securely.” Friday was using what had been come to be known as her “baby voice” - essentially a slightly quieter and calmer variant of her usual voice.

“Thanks, Friday. Now let’s go read some books, buddy, shall we?” 

— 

“Young Sir, may I alert you that boss and Mrs Potts have just arrived in the lobby?” 

Peter rubbed his eyes tiredly and glanced at the digital kitchen clock. It wasn’t even past midnight yet and he was used to sleeping way later than that, but as it turned out, babies could be quite exhausting. He was beginning to think that Tony’s year-long insane sleeping patterns must have been a great training for fatherhood.

“Okay, Friday, thanks. How’s the kid? Still good?” He didn’t really need to ask because his enhanced hearing was better than any baby monitor, but still. 

“Nothing has changed in the past fifteen minutes.” 

“Alright, cool, Friday. Let me know if anything changes.” 

“Sure thing, Peter.” 

Peter took another sip of his hot chocolate and returned his attention to the laptop in front of him. After he’d gotten the kid to sleep, he had decided it wouldn’t hurt to know more about caring for young children, so he’d taken up some research on the topic. As it turned out, there were a lot of things he didn’t know. 

He’d heard their voices long before they stepped through the door. 

“Underoos, how’s it going? I see you haven’t turned the tower into ashes, I appreciate it. And you’ve made hot chocolate!” Tony clapped on his shoulder as he was walking past him to peer into the pot of hot milk on the counter. 

“Hey Mr - uh, Tony! And Pepper!” Peter waved in the direction of Pepper who was taking off her shoes next to the door. She looked slightly breathless, but she smiled and looked younger than she had in months. This evening must have really made a difference.

“Hi Peter, how did it go? Everything alright? Friday didn’t call us, so we assumed you had everything under control here?” 

“Uh, yeah, I mean, I hope I did an okay job! I read him this book about a giraffe in the zoo and then he cried a bit but I think I calmed him down, we just looked out the panorama window for a long time and I explained which building was which and that really seemed to help -”

“Relax, underoos, you’ve done great, he’s sleeping and everything’s in one piece, that’s better than what I managed in the first few weeks.” - “It really is,” Pepper chimed in sarcastically, gaining a half-hearted affronted look from Tony. 

“Well, I’m gonna go change out of this expensive but surprisingly uncomfortable suit into something more fitting for drinking hot chocolate in peace. See you in a bit.” Tony left towards his bedroom already taking off his suit jacket, and Pepper turned to Peter at the kitchen counter. 

“So can we count on you to babysit again?” Pepper smiled at Peter as she poured some hot milk in a cup and began stirring in some chocolate powder. Peter hastily set down his own mug. “Yes, yes, of course, it was so much fun, I’d be honoured -”

A loud crash from the next room interrupted him, followed by Tony’s voice cursing. “Peter! What are these literal hundreds of building blocks doing on the floor -” 

Pepper and Peter’s eyes met and Peter had a hard time deciphering what Pepper’s slightly pained expression could mean. He was half convinced he was in deep trouble until Pepper burst out laughing. 

“Friday, please save that footage, will you?” - “Sure thing, Mrs Potts.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Turns out it's really hard for me to describe what babies do because I have zero expertise in that area, I hope it wasn't too bad! Find me on tumblr at sapphirestark :)


End file.
